Insights for the Month of Aries

March 20thEQUINOX: Sun enters Aries 12:57 PM EDTToday is the first day of Aries and just so you know, this has less to do with the actual constellation and more to do with the fact that today is one of only two days in the year when day and night are in perfect balance. It only lasts a moment and then the light begins to ascend, pushing the dark further and further away until, at some places on earth it becomes daylight for 24 hours a day for a while. (Of course this is the opposite Down Under. But even in the Southern hemisphere the day and night are equal today.) So here we stand, poised at the beginning of the season of birth and rebirth; when everything fights for its life. Hence, the meaning of Aries as a sign that fights to actualize its identity.

Here is a fifth century take on Aries: “…there is a ‘birthchart’ of the creation known as the thema mundi. … The idea is often introduced to explain why Aries should be the considered the ‘starting point’ of the circle of the zodiac, a circle which has no beginning. ‘They say,’ Macrobius wrote, ‘that when that day began which was the first of all and is therefore rightly called the world’s birthday, Aries was in the Midheaven; and because the Midheaven is as it were the vertex of the world, Aries was therefore held to be the first among them all, the one which appeared like the head of the world at the beginning of light.’ ” P. 304 World Astrology: The Astrologer’s Quest to Understand the Human Character.

March 22ndMercury conjunct NeptuneWe don’t all agree. That’s for certain. And yet, each one of us is part of the Great Mind of the Universe. There may be 13 ways of looking at a blackbird but in any case it is one blackbird.

March 26thMercury trine JupiterIt should be easy to be generous today, not because we feel each other’s pain (although we do) but because it feels good to give.

March 28thMercury sextile PlutoMercury is busy this week. Activating the cardinal cross in the nicest way, with Neptune’s help.In retrospect, change seems as though it was inevitable. But in the moment the events that lead to change can be subtle and as seemingly small as choosing a local organic item over a cheaper one which comes from far away.

March 29thVenus trine Mars
Venus square SaturnWe live in a passionate era when people can get all fired up and say just about anything even if it’s not true because it feels true. Make every effort to have your facts on straight even if it slows down your chance of instant gratification. Denial will not protect you or your ideas.

March 30thNew Moon 09 degrees Aries 02:46 PM EDTStep inside the cardinal cross. Bring your friends. There is actually no other place to be. Imagine yourself at the center where the four directions meet. You are the keeper of the directions of your life and today or tomorrow you must make your intentions clear. You want change, you need to feed and nourish your people, you must be a leader but not a dominator and you must have extreme courage to face the fear that there is simply not enough. Whether this is true or not, is not for you to know. What is known is that there is great fear which will require great courage.

April 1stSun square JupiterExcessive appetites lead to extreme behavior. And yet we still don’t know what to eat; how much to consume. We want what satisfies our mind but our stomach takes the fall. What are we to do? How can one body be so at odds with itself?

April 2ndSun conjunct Uranus
Mercury trine SaturnIt’s true that anything can happen. It’s also true that a steady mind can tell the difference between truth and a lie. A little bit of intention goes a long way to steadying our thoughts. We are standing with uncounted angels on the head of the World Pin. How we take action in this world matters.

April 3rdSun squares PlutoNo matter how big, how strong, how smart, how rich, how lovely you are there will always be forces you cannot control that can overpower your life. Cowering is one option, denial another. Neither one is very useful. Consider, for yourself, the third alternative.

April 5thVenus enters PiscesWe all love a great dream, a beautiful flower, a good movie. As John O’donohue said: “Beauty does not linger, it only visits.Yet beauty’s visitation affects us and invites us into its rhythm,it calls us to feel, think, and act beautifully in the world: to create and live a life that awakens the Beautiful..”

April 7thMercury enters AriesSharpen your pencils; sharpen anything that helps you sharpen your mind. Passionate ideas will be driving the cardinal cross till the 16th. The issue of the cardinal cross (to possibly over simplify) is leadership. The old model is quite broken. The new model is not quite strong enough to assert itself. In the gap will be many passionate ideas. Only a sharp mind will be able to discern which ones are worth taking up.

April 08thSun opposite MarsThis is the most important day of the Mars retrograde. It is the day of the opposition; the day when we are meant to question authority (inner and outer). The question is, ‘Why do it this way?” There is no foregone answer. It’s the question that’s important. No matter what challenge presents itself this is the question (the quest). Why do it this way?

April 11thVenus conjunct NeptuneSometimes the truest things sound trite. The greatest wisdom sounds simple. And, worst of all, we fall for beauty that is only skin deep.

April 14thPluto stationery retrograde
Mercury square Jupiter
Mercury conjunct UranusPower, excess, radical change: Today’s ingredients. Actually not just today but at least since the New Moon. We are here together. We put a tremendous amount of energy into thinking we are here alone. Be willing to radically reorient your perspective.

April 15thFull Moon: 25 degrees Libra 03:42 AM EDT ECLIPSE
Mercury square PlutoYou cannot lose everything unless you believe that you really can possess everything: Forever. It was always going to break or get lost. Wisdom has it that we should hold on tightly and let go lightly. This includes ideas as well as stuff. Meet challenges willingly.

April 16thMercury opposite Mars (retrograde)It’s hard to have a rational discussion when the subject matter is absurd; like which kinds of torture are permissible. Sometimes it’s enough to make sparks fly from the head and tacks to issue forth from the mouth. Still it makes sense to negotiate rather than simply clobber the person you are encountering. Maybe we all need to read The Art of War.

April 17thVenus trine JupiterTake a break from the challenges and do something that makes you happy. As many people as you can take along with you will increase that happiness. If we open our arms wide we are bound to touch each other.

April 18thVenus sextile PlutoTo surrender without capitulation is a great ability. Practice makes it possible. Do not get in the way of change that must, inevitably come.